On Discover Temples of Thailand

Within the 2026 corpus Discover Temples of Thailand sits in a unique position, both failure and victory, vanguard and bulwark, both entirely different in effect yet identical in affect. Discover Temples of Thailand has demonstrably provided a unique irreplicable dataset that allows for informed decision making. In layman’s terms; I found the floor and struck oil, hit the ceiling and found shattered glass.

Sic Parvis Magna

The project began as Temples of Thailand; a print-piece for Fuji X Passion’s quarterly publication; a simple beginnings of showing identical subject matter through the ‘lenses” of ArtraLab’s vast focal ranges (11mm,23mm,35mm & 56mm). During production, the intrinsic value and interest in the subject matter outshone any “inspirational and educational” value requested by the publication. Coupled with internal friction over creative direction, it became the internal fracture point between DRobertsPhoto and Fuji X Passion, not the friction point between David Roberts and Hugo Pinho. This was not disclosed at the time, but swiftly retracted.

With Soul of the Planet, Heart of the People gaining mass during a politically volatile climate, the decision to place the project on hiatus was made, and Temples of Thailand placed front and centre as gateway into the DRobertsPhoto ecosystem. As with all projects by DRobertsPhoto it was kept internal, maturing outside of the spotlight. Venus Laowa supported the project in pre-production state despite a parting of the ways with Fuji X Passion, facilitating both the 25mm f/0.95 Argus APO and 65mm f/2.8 Super-Macro APO for the project. Dehancer Film Emulation instigated collaboration on motion companion pieces such as the short-form documentary piece on Wat Santi Wanaram for the IMF 2025 commission entry, despite no video being requested. Another example of over-delivery by DRobertsPhoto. The temple-site chosen as it is a fully self-sustained commune, the exact specification of the given brief “Thailand 2026: A Vibrant and Resilient Economic Future.” The authors submission was also backed by endorsement from Stuart Isett (NYT, Fortune). No reason was specified due to their failure to select the project for the commission grant, yet IMF interest in the “Resilient Economic Future” of Thailand is proof of market for the project, and the submission alone proof of execution regardless.

Needless to say, Temples of Thailand was not meant to break institutional walls at this stage, but was repurposed from the shell of a funnel-project. An ambient cinematic series — filmed, scored, and edited in-house — on places one could dream of spending an afternoon whilst answering emails in an office environment. A trojan horse, and not the final time the author will choose such deception to infiltrate the mainstream. The project was pitched to Meike the Sirui, Smallrig then Tilta and fortunately was unsuccessful on all fronts. it was clear there was now a discrepancy between target and trajectory. Regardless, word spread and Dehancer approached without knowledge of Angelbird, TASCHEN, or ZEISS adjacency. Collaboration was secured on terms; the project was to be led by Dararat Phetkon on behalf of DRobertsPhoto.com, the support was lifetime seats, and logo use on credits. After confirmation of brand-guidelines and scope of credit, the initial partner of what was now Discover Temples of Thailand was onboarded.

Whilst the scoring element has only been used on a single teaser to date due to time constraints; the ethos of “growing your own spices” has not been abandoned. In fact, this is the bedrock for what the nomenclature Discover eventually became. To discuss what Temples of Thailand is it must be discussed what Castles of Japan is. Castles of Japan has been in ideation under various nomenclature since as early as 2018, and is the flagship monograph of DRobertsPhoto, and creative love-child of the author David Roberts. It is the bridge between Thai domiciliary and established legal presence within Japan. Temples of Thailand was a means to Castles of Japan, serving as a proof-of-concept, and low-volume artefact to fund expansion. A series was pitched to FUJILOVE magazine, a late-2026 date was discussed (follow up to the authors 2025 multi-part series) with a working title “Frames Behind the Frames” documenting over six-parts the making of Discover Temples of Thailand, this was the idea pitched to ZEISS.

This FUJILOVE series was abandoned shortly after due to ZEISS requesting public “photographer” status from David Roberts, and exclusivity that would come with the title. As the majority of ZEISS optics are for Sony E, the choice was made to adopt Sony systems to facilitate future optionality. As the author was currently pitching to TASCHEN at the time, the decision that ZEISS Photographer as a market signal was a major upside as further market readiness, formalities were arranged. However, after months of lacklustre response from the now-partner ZEISS, David disengaged completely in fear of eventual conflict arising should the incompatible parties move forward at institutional pace. A single deliverable came from the contested period (for FUJILOVE issue 117). The decision to move capture to Sony systems meant that Frames Behind the Frames was never to emerge; replaced by the self-published Production Field-Reports - as a canonical amalgamation of both Frames Behind the Frames and Before Discover (initially semi-canonical Substack material). As an aside; the author negotiated monthly Photo Essays in-lieu of social media deliverables, what he considered a victory for the Post-Social movement he is engaged in. Unfortunately, external parties were unprepared for the difference between anthropological essay and blog content.


A lens test over a static, repeat and coherent subject was pitched to Fuji X Passion and Artralab. Independent validation, and credibility by adjacently was seen by Venus Laowa, Angelbird Technologies and Dehancer. Dreamy cinematics were pitched to the wrong brands. Frames Behind the Frames was pitched to ZEISS and FUJILOVE. Self-sustaining economies based on cultural heritage, backed by industry professionals was pitched to the IMF. What was pitched to TASCHEN?

On Discover

TASCHEN and Penguin Random House were given the full IP Stack for DRobertsPhoto.com, from 2025 to 2030. One of the properties pitched was Discover, and within Discover, Temples of Thailand. Firstly, Discover is a nomenclature pertaining to the trifecta of works produced on a single subject:

  • Stills Monograph (and adjacent showings)

  • Motion Cinematics (proof-of-concept for Netflix-level documentary series and NHK-level prefecture materials)

  • Long-Tail Retention (literary manuscripts to Field Reports, Photo Essays and Gear Talk segments)

In June of 2025, at thirty-three David Roberts’ work was immediately and decisively taken into editorial review at TASCHEN in pre-production, pre-visualisation, and concept stage; publisher of the gold-standard of technical and ethically superlative works (Sabastai Salgado - Genesis, 2013, Amazonia 2021) alongside the authors direct inspirations; Bosch, Hokusai, and Hiroshige. Declined on calendar fit only, with zero critique or question as to feasibility, marketability, or intrinsic worth. The author speculates that with the recent and unfortunate passing of Sabastiao Salgado reinvigorating interest in the catalogued works; a competitor in the space at this current time would be self-sabotage. However, Discover is built for permanence, and despite being unbeholden to platform — if external publishing was to be pursued — TASCHEN is the natural home, be it 2025 or 2030. With less than six-hundred Instagram followers, the only factor in TASCHEN’s decisions was intrinsic merit.


Too Quiet for the Algorithm, Too Loud for Any Room was written by the author in April of 2025; Part manifesto, part memoir delivered in 13,700 words across 100+ pages of typographically-led spreads. Looks like a mood board, reads like the feed. Designed with trojan horse principles for adopting the aesthetics of social media and blog culture with pull quotes and kerning. Reviewed by The House of Anansi Press, with interest from the Editorial Director but ultimately passed on. This, alongside Fujifilm-adjacent collaboration support continuing from Fuji X Passion to independent publication on DRobertsPhoto.com (by Venus Laowa, ArtraLab, Meike etc.) proves viability of the long-tail retention component. Support from Angelbird Technologies and Dehancer Film Emulation, including brand compliant logo usage on DRobertsPhoto.com and media credit crawls, proves viability of motion components.

On Production

Production on the project was scheduled for Q4 of 2025, an idyllic season with post-monsoon greenery, clear skies, mild weather, and further pitching protracted post-hoc. During this time Thailand faced multiple typhoons extending into late November, fatal border conflict, rabies endemic, and early onset carbon pollution; resulting in David Roberts as the sole operator medically incapacitated during primary production. The very causes that the author documented through Soul of the Planet, Heart of the People, halted production on Discover Temples of Thailand.

As such protracted production and a move from low-volume stand-alone artefact to minimum viable product as execution under duress for Discover pitches was made. This is where the project stands as of January 2026; with hopes of resuming production during Q4 2026. A decision to move The Nakasendo Way to Q2 2027 to protect this window of opportunity has been made, along with symbolic significance of returning to Japan a whole decade after the authors formative time in the country. This not only completes the journey but the final project to be featured in Ten Years of DRobertsPhoto: The Birth of Philosophic Documentarianism, a forward-facing retrospective where pre-Discover Castles of Japan and Discover Temples of Thailand will feature prominently. It is worth noting that conditions are unlikely to be favourable during Q4 2026; yet the author wishes to remain open to producing a monograph on his mother’s culture. David truly believes in both the intrinsic value of the temporal Thai landscape; for which Temples are merely a lens into, and the extrinsic value of his diasporic view. regardless of public outcome Temples of Thailand has succeeded in its aim of launching Discover and paving the way for Castles of Japan. What remains contested is the extent of what is capable of being produced as the author is unwilling to dilute imagery of sacred, culturally important sites with temporal anomalies of flooding, haze or otherwise. The monograph is intended as a record of cultural truth, not a showcase of adversary and will either be made as such or not made at all.

Production Field Reports are ongoing; captured on industry leading Sony Alpha 7R V system and the FE 35mm f/1.4 G Master (unaffiliated). Motion captured on the discreet Sony Cinema Line FX30 and Sony E 15mm f/1.4 G (unaffiliated), supported by Dararat Phetkon (contributing operator/editor), Angelbird Technologies (media), and Dehancer Film Emulation (grading). Stills are hand edited by the author in the house style. Discover Temples of Thailand is currently orbiting a body of seven production field reports that serve as pedagogical element for future independent documentarians, proof of execution, and in the current AI-climate, proof of human creation. These reports are not site reports, nor contain the full imagery captured. Pre-production materials such as the visual prelude, teaser cinematics, and IMF commission materials continue to serve as guidelines for the final monograph; production field reports as the backbone of the MVP. All affiliations (brands or individuals) are contributory, the project remains the sole ownership of David Roberts and is executed under his sole authorship under expectations of a canonical Discover property.